I always tell people I live from Carnival to Carnival. The countdown continues! This is how we prepare!

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The Spin (Gym) Lottery

So I dragged my tail into the gym this evening to take in a little spin class. Trinis real jokey yes. The only time they see fit to work out is between band launch and Carnival. After that the gym is deserted until next season. I was rudely reminded of this when I arrived at 6:30 for a 7:30 spin class. I had intentionally arrived early cause I am well aware of what ensues around this time of year.Now I doh know how things work in other Gyms but in Long Circular Gym you have to move real dread to get in that class. At 6:35 the masses started to congregate. This is the time when all the spinners stand up by the front counter and stare at the attendant for half and hour until she gives out the spin cards at 7pm (if you have no card you cyar come in).

During this period the potential spinners implement a variety of tactics to make themselves visible to the attendant to ensure they get a card. They might give a direct comment "Aye yuh see me here, i here eh,right" or in directly (in a loud voice to no one in particular) " Boy since 5 O'CLOCK I in this place " or "Is only SPIN i come for". Well I had friends up long time with the girl (other than the fact that me and my friend were obviously there first) so I figure I had it lock.

Boy, when that pen and paper pull out to write down names for the cards, the crowd does push forward like yuh watching Machel on the stage. In case you were wondering, yes , they WRITE the names because ppl WILL try to sneak in the class without a card and bump ppl out the class faster than BWEE. So if that happens and you have a dispute..they check the list and embarrass ppl.

When you see the first card hand out its like winning the lottery (WHO HOO!). Better yet, its like "Price is Right"....' Ms.Dragon, come on dooown , you are the next contestant on spin to win'. This is of course, followed immediately by the mad sprint to the spin room.Every card that hand out you see ppl rejoicing like they win something and you see the faces of the late comers plunge into despair. When you see the last ball call and she say "No more card' then the scamming start. All who want to "squeeze' in the class. This is where the sprint portion comes in.....When you get your card you haveto run to the room to pick a bike (that working first off) and that in the position you want to be in the room. By staking your claim (putting yuh towel and yuh water on the bike) you ensure that nobody could bowl yuh out. In my next segment , I shall elaborate more on the importance of positioning in the spin room. In summary, here are your (Long Circ Gym) spin class survival tips..

Reach EARLY. At least an hour before. If you going and workout on other machines prior to the class, keep an eye on the number of ppl at the front desk. I don't recommend this as you risk losing your priority even though standing and watching the attendant is a complete waste of time.

Make yourself memorable but not annoying. Small talk a little bit with the attendant but don't hound her or she might just keep you hanging.

As you get your card , RUN don't walk to the spin room to secure your position.

Whatever you do, DON'T leave the card hanging around, someone will take it. If you have no card you can't come een.(And they will argue the list too eh)

It helps to befriend the instructor, that way if you reach late and you look like you won't be in the night's draw he might give you that "squeeze". I have seen them give you their own bike.

If you doing the class, STAY IN THE CLASS. After going through all the trouble to get in I HATE IT when ppl just duck out half way through and don't give others who were waiting the chance to come in. Nothing wrong with pacing yuhself , stick it out!

If you pacing yourself, DOH RUSH UP IN THE FRONT ROW LIKE YUH KNOW WHAT YUH DOING. This just throws off the entire class and worse yet for the more experienced spinners/ aerobicisers. Rule of thumb, experienced ppl go in front so they can help guide the class for all who may not be able to see the instructor and keep the pace up.

3 comments:

LOL I love this post because I just hated lining up at the counter in LCM and waiting for the girl to give out the cards.and I see nuff people get vex because they came early but walk off somewhere just as she decide to share out the cards.Anyway I am in Spinners World at the top of Bellsmythe Street and it is the best

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All photos and original articles by the author of this site are copyright of http://carnivaljumbie.blogspot.com and Carnival Jumbie Ltd. therefore all rights are reserved.Original content found within this Web site are protected by international copyright laws. No content of any type from this site may be sold, republished, modified, uploaded, reformatted or copied without the express consent of Carnival Jumbie Ltd.